When my son was little, small traumas such as bumping his head would often cause him to stop breathing and pass out. His doctor assured me that he would be fine; he just had an ‘overactive reset system’. I learned over time that I could help prevent his ‘reset’ by getting him to focus on me when these traumas occurred. If I could get him to focus on my voice and remind him to breathe, his body systems would calm down and keep him breathing. My mantra was simple; I would just hold him and whisper ‘breathe’ over and over until he was able refocus.

How many times in our own lives do we forget to stop and breathe? I have recently been reminded to take my own advice. I was feeling pretty overwhelmed. Suddenly, a song on the radio reminded me of my old mantra I had repeated so many times to Mitchell. I listened. After just a few moments I felt so much calmer. I was able to refocus which vastly improved the rest of my day. The situations I was dealing with did not change. I did.

At my home church we have been encouraged to progress our faith by following the steps of PoWeR SuRGe. (Prayer, Worship, Reading the Word, building Relationships, and Giving) All of these keys are great steps to a deeper walk in our faith. Some of us are trying to take this to the next level and just don’t know how. Others are so overwhelmed that we don’t even know where to begin. All of us need quit forgetting to breathe.

I learned from my pastor that the original meaning of the Greek word we translate as 'spirit', was breath. This means the 'spirit' represented in the Holy Trinity is actually the very breath of God in us. Now that is powerful.

None of our lives are perfect. None of our relationships with Jesus are exactly where we want them to be, but we are not powerless. We have the Highest Power of all sitting and patiently waiting for us to take a breath. Just breathe.

If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be! TRUST JESUS NOW

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